Part 1 of 3. Villager Hemnor recruits Hercules to save the last golden hind from Prince Nestor. When a young boy is critically injured in one of Nestor's traps, Serena appears and heals him, then disappears. Iolaus, meanwhile, is shot by the hind. Hercules hunts Serena to save Iolaus before it's too late. Ares traps Serena in a thorny hedge, from which Hercules frees her -- but the thorns have caught her blood.

Hercules asks Serena to marry him. But Ares is still manipulating the situation and, determined to destroy the pair's relationship, makes Hercules a deal - Serena's hand in return for Hercules giving up his godly powers.

Hercules found it increasingly difficult to adjust to life without his superhuman strength. Meanwhile Ares and his nephew, Strife, plotted Hercules demise which didn't help matters. Then Hercules awoke one morning to find his wife lying dead beside him, murdered. He appeared to be the murderer, but in his darkest hour, his friends Iolaus, Xena and Gabrielle came to his aid, defending him against a lynch mob and exposing Strife as Serena's killer. Zeus gave back to his son the gift of incredible strength, and Hercules defeated Strife before the evil young god escaped with Ares.

Autolycus steals the Cronus stone, which whisks himself and Hercules five years into the past. While Autolycus and his past self plan to steal the stone over again, Hercules is reunited with Serena, still alive in this time-line.

Hope, the treacherous daughter of Dahak and Gabrielle, went to the Ixion Caverns and freed Callisto. Hope gave the warrior-goddess a mission: rid the world of Hercules. Callisto joined forces with Ares, and the two reopened the vortex to the alternate universe. When the Sovereign appeared, Ares snatched his pendant of Hind's blood -- the only substance that can kill a god. But Callisto ripped the pendant from Ares' neck and used the blood to kill Strife. Hope then sent Callisto back in time to kill Hercules' mother, so Iolaus convinced Ares to send him back as well.